About the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia

The Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia ("SBA") was founded in 1995 to serve many functions in the gay and the legal communities. Primarily, the organization was founded to develop a coalition of legal workers to utilize their professional expertise to support the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and oppose discrimination based on sexual or gender orientation. SBA’s membership includes not only lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, but our straight allies as well.

As a service to our members and the community at large, we publish an on-line Directory of Attorneys who practice in many areas of the law and who are willing to serve and be responsive to the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients.

SBA provides regular opportunities for its members to socialize and network with each other, sharing their knowledge, contacts, clients and information about job opportunities. This is an excellent way for attorneys to continue building their client bases and for law students to find mentors and to discover information about job opportunities.

SBA also strives to provide educational opportunities for its members and the community at large to learn about or expand their knowledge about legal issues relevant to members of our community. Past educational topics covered have included estate planning strategies for gay and lesbian couples, relevant issues in family law and criminal law.

Our member attorneys have worked in coalition with other organizations such as the ACLU and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund to file amicus briefs in cases that impact our community in Georgia. Such briefs have been submitted in cases including ones that overturned Georgia’s sodomy law and secured the rights of local governments and private corporations to offer domestic partnership benefits to company employees and their life partners.

Another main goal of the organization is to foster and maintain positive relationships with Judges and to educate them on issues that are important to our community. Over the last eight years SBA has been very successful in developing relationships with Judges of the state and federal courts in the metro-Atlanta area. Each year, many of these Judges attend SBA's Annual Awards Dinner in October, and several have reported that it is their favorite function hosted by any bar association during the year.

At the Annual Dinner, community awards are given to individuals and/or groups of attorneys or law firms who have made significant contributions to improving the quality of life of gay Georgians. Additionally, each year a new and interesting keynote speaker is featured at the Dinner. These speakers always provide an educational and enriching experience to the attendees.

The Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) business league,dedicated to promoting the interests of LGBT legal professionals and their allies.